While many schools treat days off from classes as quiet campus days, something different happens at The Montessori Academy Edison Lakes. For our third-year Lower Elementary students, it can become a time for invention.
Several members of last spring’s Lower Elementary Robotics after-school program gathered to continue exploring what they had learned: programming, engineering design, and creative problem solving using LEGO robotics kits. These students had already spent months learning how to build mechanisms, write simple code, and test their ideas.
With the gym floor as their testing ground, one student demonstrated a robot he designed and programmed himself. It took him 5 iterations and 10 different tries at programming the correct number of rotations to travel from one basketball hoop to the other. The robot moved across the floor, following its programmed path while pulling a dust mop. He effectively designed a Roomba for the gym! This is a simple but effective example of how engineering ideas turn into working machines through trial, adjustment, and persistence.
Experiences like this are possible thanks to the generosity of community partners who believe in hands-on learning. Kendrion Mishawaka LLC and SMP Marketing, LLC have donated robotics equipment that allows TMA students to experiment, design, and engineer in real ways.
In Montessori education, the goal is not simply to learn about science or technology, but to do the work of scientists and engineers. When children are given the tools, time, and freedom to explore, remarkable things happen.
So what do third years at TMA do on a day when classes aren’t in session?
They build robots.
They test ideas.
They become inventors.